The traditional TV news media has been having a rough time in the last few years. According to a recent survey, more Americans have a negative (43%) than a positive (33%) view of the mass media, and are finding it harder to be well informed because it is getting harder to determine which news is accurate.
So what is media's biggest problem? It's bigotry. While ideally all types of media should be objective and hold power to account, in reality, we know that most news outlets are partisan and have their agenda to advance. Whether state-owned or run by some shady tax-avoiding billionaire, getting 'the masses' to view the world from a certain perspective has always been a priceless power to wield.
So why is trust in the media so low? Well, according to the same survey, 8 out of 10 Americans believe that the news media are critical to their democracy. The gap between these lofty expectations of an honest, objective media and the performance that they deliver is large. Times, when the mask slips and examples of media manipulation are exposed, is hugely damaging to trust (don't even get me started on the 2003 Iraq war), and people naturally turn to social media for other, even-easier-to-manipulate sources. Thus we are in the current state in which we find ourselves: confused, mistrustful and divided.
People have been posting examples of fake news and how media can use different techniques of deception, to trick you into seeing exactly what they wanted you to see. As you will discover, perspective is everything! It all goes to show that a healthy dose of skepticism goes a long way, and getting your news from a wide range of different sources is your best bet to a more rounded view of the world we live in. Social media is good in that respect, but bad regarding regulation, trolling and people shouting horrible things at each other. The good old traditional news media is needed as a forum for rational debate and expert opinion, but they must stop with the manipulation already! Scroll down to check out the cheeky photo manipulations in action for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
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Photo Taken When Kate Middleton And Prince William Presented Third Royal Baby To The World
I don't know if its odd, but i show number 3 by pinching the pinky finger down to thumb, not this way!
I don't find that odd, that's exactly how I put my fingers for three! To each his own!!
I'd love to see William actually give someone the middle finger, the world would be shocked!
I love this because it totally shows how people see things from different angles.
People are complaining how he is showing "3". That is how you show the number 3 in ASL.
OH! And they flip you off in the UK by a backwards "Peace" sign showing the back of their hand.
Load More Replies...When you show 3 directly, then yeah I do it the pinky finger down way but while counting from one, it's the other way. So maybe he was counting.
Strange way to display a three. The thumb would be one of my digits, but then one is not royal.
Seriously what idiot has a problem how someone shows the number 3 on their hand. This is the problem with social media. Even idiots are entitled to their opinion no matter how ridiculous and aggravating it is.
Tv News Station
There's something inherently funny about wearing a tie but no shoes.
Load More Replies...I don't get the problem with this? There is no issue with that, especially in countries without a big tv budget. The nature and content of the news is important, not the image!
I agree there's literally zero reason for this picture to be here...now if they were just showing images that aren't exactly what they seem then this would work but there's no "fake news" picture here
Load More Replies...I love that table! It looks like the kind of funnel used for donations where you put the coins down it and watch them spin.
It's a plastic bar-stool: see the chromed footrest about a third of the way up.
Load More Replies...Hehe, that's me hosting a videoconf working from home. Under my table you would find pyjamas.
What else did people expect, that people being interviewed for the news would walk up to the highest viewpoint of the city (with a camera crew) so shoot their 50 seconds of fame?
Actually that's what I used to think was done :D
Load More Replies...U.s. Marines From The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit Help An Iraqi Soldier With Water From A Canteen In Southern Iraq, March 21, 2003
This photo was seen all over. Some only showed the picture on the left, others the picture on the right. The center picture shows the whole "story." And if you notice, the gun is pointed in the general direction, but not "pressed" to the soldier's head. The original post (of the center photo: U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit help an Iraqi soldier with water from a canteen in southern Iraq, on Friday, March 21, 2003. Some 200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to the U.S. 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit just after an hour after it crossed the border into Iraq from northern Kuwait.
I hate to break it you guys, but the USA was busily invading Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein from March 20th, 2003. This man is obviously a PoW, so is being held at gunpoint while being given some water. Do you people have such a short memories that you have completely forgetten recent history?
still, an iraqi held prisonner in his country by a foreign occupation force..
Tricky indeed. But the observers would notice the guy on the left has his hand on his lap, the gun is just hanging.
The guy with his hands in his lap is not the one holding the gun, you can see a hand on the gun.
Load More Replies...gun not pointed at head. the soldier on the left is giving the water and the soldier on the left is sitting next to the Iraq soldier with the marine's hand on his own leg and there is a 3rd soldier next to the soldier on the left sitting HIS gun is in his hands. And it looks like it's pointed at the Iraqi soldier's head.
Presidential Inauguration Of Donald Trump
He's waving at the camera and reporters because there aren't any other people except security.
It's not the same picture. The white lines on the road are missing, the blondes head is turned differently, other people are missing. These pictures were not taken at the same time. Nice job bored panda. Messing with pictures in a post about messing with pictures.
Even the colour of the road surface is different between both photos. Even "Blind Freddy" could tell these photos weren't even taken within seconds of each other, unless the roadway suddenly changed clour from black tarmac into what looks more like pebblecrete or maybe a sports stadium running track, with a blue "best line" painted on it.
Load More Replies...Ugh! really? in a story ABOUT bias, you do THIS?? they aren't the same photo, the people are not in the same positions, they aren't even looking in the same direction.
It's not meant to literally be the same photo, just same time/situation.
Load More Replies...That's not the same picture! Different people around, one is day one is evening, different pavement.
The crowd was the biggliest, hugeliest ever! Way bigger than any inauguration crowds before! Bigly hugeliest!!! *FAKE NEWS!!!!!* AND *MORE CHUMP LIES*
really?? even in a story ABOUT bias, you slip in this It's not the same photo, the people are not in the same position, they aren't even looking in the same direction.
Look I went to Obama's and sat in that same area at the end. Both sides were packed. BS it was closed for security. You are vetted to get through and you pay big bucks to sit there.
The president follows and the secret service don't want the bleachers filled with people when walking down the road. For security reasons. Plus the President and the Vice President ALWAYS travel separately. That is in case the President gets killed the Vice President will be alive to become the sitting President. They never travel together
Hillary Rally In Omaha
That's more than 50 people. And it's still more than the "Yuge crowds" of legitimate(unpaid) tRump supporters that show up for his rallies.
There's obviously more than 50 people there but not as many as it would appear in the top photo
Trump came to Johnson City, TN a few weeks ago. The entire stadium was filled up to capacity and there were still over 10,000 people outside waiting to get in. I'd say that's a few more than the turnout she had.
You must be a Democrat, You do so well at criticizing Trump. Maybe he isn't the best but sure better Than the b----h that lost. Thank GOD for that
Optical Illusions. Obama is doing that with his speeches today. He brings all the people together so it LOOKS like a big crowd. Senator Pamela Harris went on a speaking engagement last week and only 200 people showed up and only 10 people had questions after she gave her speech. Didn't look that way on TV.
politics , sad sad always about who can convince the people using any means possible.
Yeah I don’t think us Trump supporters are paid. But if you believe that then you are totally lost.
Soldiers Playing With Kids
The first looks more like, "Boy you're bout to get a paddlin" The second reveals that the reason he is cowering is because he's trying not get hit by the ball.
Load More Replies...The first one didn't seem threatening to me, like, the soldier is really relaxed and he has what looks like a ping-pong paddle, for f**k's sake. Not exactly something a solider would try to hurt someone with.
But some people are stupid and believe everything they see and hear
Load More Replies...One picture shows a child frightened by a soldier the other shows a soldiier playing with happy children. Whoever publishes those pictures has a duty to say what the truth is or be labelled a liar.
I don't think the kid looks scared .. his body language does suggest he's trying to stay out the way but necessarily because he's scared. This is not a threatening photo at all, just simply playing.
Conservative Leader Theresa May Launches The Party's Campaign Bus In Northumberland
Think I'm going to assume this is done for most of these types of events!
I'm not sure how many of them do this, but political events like town halls or bus unveiling usually have a specific number of people they allow. Additionally those people have had a background check done of them done prior to the event and, in cases where it's a Q&A format, the questions (or the general idea of the question) are known before the person is allowed to attend/ask. This is why you don't see someone get up and hit the candidate with a hard question. Elections in politics are highly scripted events.
Load More Replies...so we basically all need to demand unzoomed pictures from the media
That's the way these kind of events are handled. Politicians are fake
Again politicians that want the optical illusion of a massive or even big crowd. People need to see the truth.
Photographer Ruben Salvadori Covered The Conflict Between Israeli Soldiers And Palestinian Youths. The Picture Above Was Staged In Cooperation With A Young Palestinian
If you want some interesting perspective on the situation, go onto YouTube and search for "Pallywood". Because not everything presented is quite what it seems.
Load More Replies...Stop giving your interpretation of how you understand the situation between the 2 when you live far away and being fed info from the media who has their own agendas. Don't think you understand!
We ALL live far away. We read news stories. That's all we can do. So whose "fault" is it that we don't accurately understand?
Load More Replies...A couple of nights ago I watched a "nostalgic" re-run of a very old news broadcasting .. it was from the early 80s. At it shocked me that actually nothing has changed since then. The images from that old news about Israel/Palestinia could be from yesterday. Sad and terrifying
Pro-Immigration Protest
Because it was demonstration ILLUSTRATING child detention, not purporting to actually show it. Hence the kids in the cages are holding protest signs. Someone took it and made a meme, which is why THAT photo is on a page talking about how pictures can lie. But yeah, kids were still put behind bars for real elsewhere.
Yeah, I feel like it's kind of silly to get all upset about this picture of a kid that isn't real when the real thing is still definitely happening. (I don't know if they're in cages like that, so maybe that's the issue, but it doesn't take away how awful the whole thing is).
Load More Replies...Irrelevant. But this is Barry Obama's doing when it was real. Truth hurts, no?
"Barry Obama" did NOT tear children away from their parents and cage them. He detained unaccompanied minors....children who came here WITHOUT a parent or guardian, until such could be located. Trump took kids from their mothers and fathers, separated them and then kept the parents and children in separate cages. Those without an agenda are smart enough to understand that is not the same thing, at all.....but, as you stated, Truth hurts, no?
Load More Replies...Child detention is to protect the children brought across the border by people other than their parents. I.e. child trafficking.
Well they had to use this pic because the detainment centers won't let any of the media in with cameras. I wonder why that is?
Even worse, I've seen people who posted that upper picture, being confronted with it being fake, and still they keep on as if it was real. People. Damn people, man.
As far as Telemundo is concerned, it was real; they are the ones who staged this bit of propaganda.
Load More Replies...Let’s blame the real people for this. Starting with Clinton who signed the law in 1996. Obama was responsible for more families being separated than Trump. And this administration has found more child sex traffickers!
Tax Protest In Paris
Many of these examples are what photographers are SUPPOSED to do, it's not fake news.
Then report, not editorialize thourgh imagery. Did the accompanying article mention there were 15 people protesting or a crowd of people. That is manipulation of the facts to affect an outcome, not journalism.
Load More Replies...That’s the problem. “Most people,” don’t know jack s**t.
Load More Replies...Why wouldn’t the reporter stand in front of the action? People are so dumb that it’s painful, and they think they’ve figured out some clever secret. Gross.
Hillary Clinton Event In Ohio
So photographers are suppose to stand in the back of a room and take pictures now??
Hahahaha nice job censoring my comment guys. Let me try again. Why would a photographer for the media take a photo of an event without showing the subject matter in detail? What good is a photo from 10 meters away, zoomed out, showing lots of wood floor? Stop making big deals out of nothing.
Why would a photographer for the media take a photo of an event that does not show the subjects in detail, but instead is taken from 10m back, from a distance, showing little people and lots of wood floor? Seriously. You talk about media deception but all you do (Bored Panda) is make mountains out of molehills.
First thing I thought! Was the bottom one taken way before and the top one later? I cannot tell.
Example Of How The Media Can Manipulate Us
It is really hard to *not* anthropomorphize* / assume that an expression on an animal's face = the same thing that expression would mean if we make it. To me I see those ears being scrunched and held tightly, and that looks painful to me. Also I am not sure if pigs' legs are meant to go at that angle, so I worry about if that is painful also.... that expression could be a grimace of pain.
Load More Replies...Happy pig being helped on the left, reality in the middle, pig about to be killed on the right.
Load More Replies...What am I supposed to see here except two guys thinking it's ok to pull a pig by its ears?
But that pig's face though.. Priceless! I mean, THAT SMIIILEE! I love pigs
We don't actually know. That could be us just wanting it to be happy.
Load More Replies...All I learned was that apparently no one is really interested anymore to show up for politics ^^;
There's a few really good pictures (Particularly at the beginning), but then there are a bunch where I'm like, "I don't understand what either of these pictures is talking about" XD
This is a low point in bored panda history - mistaking memes for "the media" and playing into this stupid rhetoric
Toby, thank you for articulating that. This needs to be higher up.
Load More Replies...I'm sorry but anyone who in 2018 depends on pictures to tell a story instead of thoughtful, intellectually based curiosity as motivation for self-research shouldn't be voting, speaking, driving, or reproducing offspring.
What's surprising is that commenters are surprised by this. It's nothing new.
I think this shows bored panda manipulation! Some of these are incorrectly labelled, and they aren't all the 'fake media'! I think the point about how pictures are able to be manipulated is a valid one, and the lesson is to not take anything at face value, read more than one source, but bashing the media is unhelpful.
It's a facet of Fake News. Manipulation to show the side they wan't whether real or not :)
Load More Replies...This is a good reminder that the media should be held to a higher standard than a freshmen on instagram, but every photo has something in it's periphery. Frankly, many Board Panda articles use photos to manipulate the readers. The articles are often set up in a narrative to frame people as victims, villains or heroes.
This is a HORRIBLE post! These are just photos...not the "media". Where were they published and by whom? They are completely unattributed with no context. In five minutes I could grab unpublished, unattributed photos off the web, crop them two different ways, and post them. Does that make me the "media"? Disgusting and irresponsible!!! A cheap way to generate hits by baiting people's distrust.
Not really. It's something the media DO use a lot, newspapers the like. Nothing wrong with the article which is just pointing out we should think a little.
Load More Replies...This is a very misleading article from Bored Panda and it only stokes the incensed calls to condem free press. People should also use their brains a bit.
All I learned was that apparently no one is really interested anymore to show up for politics ^^;
There's a few really good pictures (Particularly at the beginning), but then there are a bunch where I'm like, "I don't understand what either of these pictures is talking about" XD
This is a low point in bored panda history - mistaking memes for "the media" and playing into this stupid rhetoric
Toby, thank you for articulating that. This needs to be higher up.
Load More Replies...I'm sorry but anyone who in 2018 depends on pictures to tell a story instead of thoughtful, intellectually based curiosity as motivation for self-research shouldn't be voting, speaking, driving, or reproducing offspring.
What's surprising is that commenters are surprised by this. It's nothing new.
I think this shows bored panda manipulation! Some of these are incorrectly labelled, and they aren't all the 'fake media'! I think the point about how pictures are able to be manipulated is a valid one, and the lesson is to not take anything at face value, read more than one source, but bashing the media is unhelpful.
It's a facet of Fake News. Manipulation to show the side they wan't whether real or not :)
Load More Replies...This is a good reminder that the media should be held to a higher standard than a freshmen on instagram, but every photo has something in it's periphery. Frankly, many Board Panda articles use photos to manipulate the readers. The articles are often set up in a narrative to frame people as victims, villains or heroes.
This is a HORRIBLE post! These are just photos...not the "media". Where were they published and by whom? They are completely unattributed with no context. In five minutes I could grab unpublished, unattributed photos off the web, crop them two different ways, and post them. Does that make me the "media"? Disgusting and irresponsible!!! A cheap way to generate hits by baiting people's distrust.
Not really. It's something the media DO use a lot, newspapers the like. Nothing wrong with the article which is just pointing out we should think a little.
Load More Replies...This is a very misleading article from Bored Panda and it only stokes the incensed calls to condem free press. People should also use their brains a bit.
